Roof structure for railway cars

ABSTRACT

A rigid self supporting car roof structure including abutting full car width sheets having stiffening offset portions spaced transversely of the sheet and extending the entire length of the car. These substantially vertical stiffening portions are connected to substantially horizontal portions of the roof at their upper and lower ends thereby forming Z-shaped bending beams in such connection to give the roof internal strength both along its length to resist coupler forces, and in a transverse direction to prevent bulging of the side walls from cargo within the car.

United States Patent Brinks et al.

[451 July 25, 1972 [54] ROOF STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY CARS [72] lnventors: Floyd J. Brinks, Hobart; Lucian P. Day, 7 Jr., Highland; Jerry L. Jones, Michigan City, all of Ind.

[73] Assignee: Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: May 7, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 35,368

[52] U.S. Cl 105/377 [51 Int. Cl ..B60d 39/00 [58] Field ofSearch ..52/53,45,41; 105/377 {56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,408,779 11/1968 Allen et al. ..52/53 3,266,440 8/1966 Price et a1 105/377 Murphy ..52/4l Hasten, Jr ..52/41 Primary ExaminerJames B. Marbert Assistant Examiner-Richard A. Bertsch Attorney-Hilmond O. Vogel and Wayne Morris Russell [5 7] ABSTRACT A rigid self supporting car roof structure including abutting full car width sheets having stiffening offset portions spaced transversely of the sheet and extending the entire length of the car These substantially vertical stiffening portions are connected to substantially horizontal portions of the roof at their upper and lower ends thereby forming Z-shaped bending beams in such connection to give the roof internal strength both along its length to resist coupler forces, and in a transverse direction to prevent bulging of the side Walls from cargo within the car.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Patented July 25, 1972 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS FLOYD J. BRINKS LUCIAN I? DA JE Y L. Jars/9 i} i 4m M v ATT 'Y lllllllsllaigl i The roofs of railway vehicles serve a dual purpose of providing a closure member for the interior of the car and also a structural member between the side and end walls to prevent undesirable movement and consequent high stresses in these walls. In boxcar type railway vehicles the roof generally consists of a relatively thin sheet of steel substantially V-shaped and sometimes including integrally formed transverse offsets for support, or may include separate carlines to support the roof sheets where no integrally formed strengthening ribs are provided. These roofs in boxcar type vehicles are not subjected to high forces from material within the car since the cargo generally rests on and is supported by the floor and may contact the side and end members only when the car is impacted.

A different situation exists in hopper cars since the lading contained within the vehicle is constantly in contact with the side and end walls and must be supported by them. Constant force is present due to the lading which tends to bulge the side walls outwardly of the vehicle. The bottom of the side walls is affixed to the underframe or side sill members which are generally capable of restraining the bottom of the side wall; however, the top of the side walls presents a somewhat different picture. The side walls in bulging outward tend to distort the roof structure by flattening it out if it is arcuate, spherical, or any other configuration other than a horizontal flat plane. A flat roof structure provides excellent structural benefits since it is least distorted by bulging of side walls because it is placed in tension by forces of the side walls; however, a flat roof possesses very poor vibrational characteristics which results in a lower fatigue strength of such a structure and also a flat roof does not supply proper drainage. A spherical roof structure, on the other hand, provides excellent resistance to vibrational loading which increases the fatigue strength of a roof structure; however, an arcuate or spherical roof structure restricts internal capacity of the hopper car by not conforming to the angle of repose of particulate lading and does not provide adequate resistance to outward bulging of the side walls because the arcuate roof, in connecting the car sides, acts as a bowed, flat spring and requires additional structural members or cross supports to provide required rigidity. Additional supporting members for the roof or side walls are undesirable since they add weight, decrease volume of hoppers and add manufacturing cost to the car. A desirable roof structure would have the transverse strength of a flat roof in restraining movement or bulging of the side walls and the vibrational stability of an arcuate or rounded roof.

The roof structure of the present invention has combined the lateral strength of a flat roof and the longitudinal strength of an arcuate roof to provide a roof structure which resists bulging of the side walls, minimizes vibrations of the roof, and also improves the internal capacity of the hopper car.

It is a general object and purpose of this invention to provide a novel roof construction for a freight car, such as a hopper car, where flat substantially horizontal portions of the roof are interconnected by shorter substantially vertical portions commonly referred to as offset or stepped portions to thereby define a Z-shaped bending beam to resist the bulging movement of the side walls. The invention also contemplates stepped portions extending the length of the car to thereby impart longitudinal strength to the roof structure to resist vertical forces on the roof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a self supporting roof construction which is economical and easy to fabricate consisting of a single car-width sheet with integrally formed stepped portions.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a roof struction in which a maximum utilization of space is obtained within specific clearance requirements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a railway hopper car employing a roof structure of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a roof section without the hatch covers;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged and removed portion of the lower right corner of the roof structure illustrated in FIG. 1 enclosed within the dotted circle indicated by the numeral 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. I, there is illustrated the roof structure 10 of the present invention employed on a railway hopper car type of vehicle 12. The roof structure 10 is a continuous member comprising end roof sheets 14 and shorter intermediate sheets 16 longitudinally positioned along the length of the hopper car 12 and fixedly attached to each other at their adjacent end portions to thereby produce a continuous roof structure 10. The hopper car 12 includes side walls 18 comprising a continuous side sheet 20 reinforced by vertically extending and longitudinally spaced wall posts 22 with a longitudinally extending channel member or top chord 24 attached to the top of the side sheet 20. The end portions of the car include an end wall or bulkhead 26 which includes a horizontally extending flange portion 28 at its upper end.

The longitudinally extending side edges 30 of the roof structure 10 are positioned on and fixedly attached to the top chord 24. The transversely extending and longitudinally spaced end portions or edges 32 are positioned on and fixedly attached to the flange portions 28 of the end wall 26. Hatches 34 are located in the central portion of the roof structure 10 to permit lading to be loaded into the respective hoppers. The hatches include a circular coaming member 36 which is positioned about an opening 38 in each respective roof sheet 14 and 16. The coaming 36 includes a vertically extending throat portion 40 interconnected between a horizontally extending lower flange 42 and an outwardly directed and downwardly turned rim or flange portion 44. The hatches 34 include pivoted hatch covers 46 which are positioned on the rim 44 of the circular coaming 36 to seal off the interior of the hoppers after filling is complete. The hatch covers 46 are held in a closed position by the hold down means 48. Since all the hatches 34 are identical for purposes of clarity only the hatch on the far right of the roof structure illustrated in FIG. 1 has been completely numbered.

Individual hopper portions have been separated by the intermediate partitions or bulkheads 50 which extend laterally between the side walls 18 and serve the purpose of separating diflerent ladings and preventing longitudinal movement or surging of the lading when the car is impacted.

FIG. 4 illustrates the method of joining adjacent roof sheets 16 by the use of a connecting plate 52 which is positioned beneath adjacent edges of the roof sheets 16 and 17 and utilized primarily to support these sheets during the welding operation which fastens the sheets together.

The roof structure 10 is symmetrical about a longitudinal center line of the hopper car 12. With reference now to FIG. 2 which illustrates the integrally formed contour of a typical roof sheet, it is noticed that the roof sheet includes a top central portion 54 in which the openings 38 have been cut. Extending outward and downward from the central portion 54 is a stiffening portion or offset 56. Extending from and connected to the lateral edge of the stiffening portion 56 is an intermediate flat portion 58 having its lateral edge connected with a substantially vertical stifiening portion 60. Extending from the lower part of the stiffening portion 60 is a flat sloped portion 62 having its outside edge defined as the side edge 30 of the roof. Central portion 54 and flat portion 58 also form integral running boards in the roof structure and are sloped from a purely horizontal plane, or may be somewhat arcuate, to provide for drainage of water from the roof structure 10. The roof contour illustrated in FIG. 2 extends the entire length of the roof.

THE OPERATION The intermediate flat portion 58, the stiffening portions 60 and the sloped portion 62 form an essentially Z-shaped beam member which resists bulging of the side walls 18 and also resists vertical movement of the roof structure 10. When the hoppers are filled with lading the weight of the lading tends to bulge side walls outward of the car; however, with the roof structure welded to the top chord 24 and extending the length of the side wall 18, the members 58, 60 and 62 previously referred to form the Z-shaped beam and add rigidity to the top of the wall and prevent this lateral movement. The roof absorbs forces transmitted through the wall 18 and thereby prevents movement of the wall which would result in high stresses and consequent yielding and damage to the hopper car. The roof portions 54, 56 and 58 function in a similar structural manner by defining a similar Z-shaped beam which gives additional structural features to the roof 10. The Z- shaped beam cross sectional contour of the roof portions provides a structural member having required strength to resist both vertical and horizontal loading.

Thus it is seen by the foregoing that the novel roof structure of the present invention has combined the structural features of interconnected Z-shaped beams to resist outward bulging of the side walls of a hopper car and at the same time provide a roof structure which resists vertical movement. The adjacent car width roof sheets form a self supporting roof structure which does not require the use of transverse supporting members or carlines and iseconomical in manufacture and assembly of a railway car because of its simplified construction. The stepped contour permits the roof to conform to the angle of repose of various granular and pulverulent ladings and thereby maximizes the space within the hoppers.

The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate the invention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A railway hopper car roof structure comprising:

roof sheet means having adjacent edges and said edges fixedly attached together as by a weld and longitudinally arranged on said hopper car,

said roof sheet means including continuous integrally formed transversely spaced and longitudinally extending upright portion means,

said roof sheet means including continuous integrally formed longitudinally extending laterally extending portion means,

said upright portion means being connected to said laterally extending portion means to produce a continuous longitudinally extending stepped beam means extending from edge to edge of each roof sheet means and imparting to said roof structure integral strength to resist horizontal and vertical loading,

said upright portion means being shorter than said laterally extending portion means,

said longitudinally extending stepped beam means being Z- shaped and spaced symmetrically and transversely on said roof structure.

2. A railway hopper car comprising:

spaced side wall units having reinforced top portions,

a top chord fixedly attached to each side wall unit top portion,

roof sheet means longitudinally arranged on said hopper car and said sheet means having transversely extending edges and having side edges,

said roof sheet means including a longitudinally extending substantially upright portion means extending between said transversely extending edges and forming a beam vertical web portion,

said roof sheet means including transversely spaced and generally longitudinally and horizontally extending portion means forming beam flange portions and including an inner portion extending upwardly of said roof sheet means from the upright portion means and an outer sloping portion extending downwardly and outwardly of said roof structure from said upright portion means and overlapping and secured to said top chord,

said web portion having portions connecting with the beam flange portions to produce a longitudinally extending continuous beam means imparting to said roof structure integral strength to resist horizontal and vertical loading on the roof structure,

said roof sheet means having centrally disposed opening means,

said longitudinally extending beam means being Z-shaped and said outer sloping portion forming the lower flange of said beam means and reaching to said top chord and said beam means having an inwardly extending portion forming the upper flange of the beam and reaching to said opening means,

said upright vertical web portion and said laterally extending portion means combining to provide a sloping roof contour extending downwardly and outwardly of the opening means,

said upright portion means of said beam means being shorter than said longitudinally and horizontally extending portion means.

3. A railroad hopper vehicle comprising:

a pair of transversely spaced and longitudinally extending side wall units,

longitudinally spaced and transversely extending end walls extending between said side wall units,

spaced partition walls extending transversely of said hopper vehicle and defining hopper means,

a top chord angle plate member positioned atop each of said side wall units,

a roof structure having roof sheet members longitudinally arranged and said sheet members having transversely extending end edge portions and having longitudinally extending spaced side edge portions overlapping said top chord member,

said roof sheets having transversely spaced and longitudinally extending vertical stiffening portions extending continuously between said transversely extending end edge portions,

said roof sheets having transversely spaced and longitudinally and laterally extending portions extending continuously between said transversely extending edges and connected to said vertical stiffening portion,

said vertical stiffening portion forming a web and said laterally extending roof portions forming associated flange members thereby producing a Z-shaped longitudinally extending continuous bending beam means providing vertical and horizontal strength to said roof structure and combining with said top chord to prevent bulging of the associated side wall unit.

4. In a railway hopper car which is provided with hatch openings and adapted for transport of flowable material and including spaced side wall means and spaced end wall means, a roof structure comprising:

roof sheet means longitudinally arranged on said hopper car and having adjacent edges fixedly attached together as by weld to form said roof structure,

said roof sheet means including a top central portion,

said roof sheet means including a continuous integrally formed and longitudinally extending substantially laterally extending intermediate portion means spaced from said central portion,

a downwardly and outwardly sloping stiffening portion extending between and connecting the top central portion and the laterally extending intermediate portion means,

said roof sheet means including integrally formed transversely spaced and longitudinally extending substantially upright stiffening portion means,

said roof sheet means having a transverse edge portion attached to said side wall means,

a downwardly and outwardly sloping roof section including said edge portion and extending between said upright stiffening portion means and the hopper car side wall means,

said laterally extending intermediate portion means combining with the upright portion and the downwardly and outwardly sloping roof section to form a first beam member,

said laterally extending intermediate portion means also combining with the downwardly and outwardly sloping stifiening portion and the roof central portion to form a second beam member,

said first and second beam members strengthening said roof structure to restrict vertical deflection of such roof structure and to restrict horizontal bulging of said side wall means.

5. The invention according to claim 4, and

said side wall means including a top chord reinforcing member fixedly attached thereto and said top chord having a portion providing a mounting and attaching means for said roof structure. 

1. A railway hopper car roof structure comprising: roof sheet means having adjacent edges and said edges fixedly attached together as by a weld and longitudinally arranged on said hopper caR, said roof sheet means including continuous integrally formed transversely spaced and longitudinally extending upright portion means, said roof sheet means including continuous integrally formed longitudinally extending laterally extending portion means, said upright portion means being connected to said laterally extending portion means to produce a continuous longitudinally extending stepped beam means extending from edge to edge of each roof sheet means and imparting to said roof structure integral strength to resist horizontal and vertical loading, said upright portion means being shorter than said laterally extending portion means, said longitudinally extending stepped beam means being Z-shaped and spaced symmetrically and transversely on said roof structure.
 2. A railway hopper car comprising: spaced side wall units having reinforced top portions, a top chord fixedly attached to each side wall unit top portion, roof sheet means longitudinally arranged on said hopper car and said sheet means having transversely extending edges and having side edges, said roof sheet means including a longitudinally extending substantially upright portion means extending between said transversely extending edges and forming a beam vertical web portion, said roof sheet means including transversely spaced and generally longitudinally and horizontally extending portion means forming beam flange portions and including an inner portion extending upwardly of said roof sheet means from the upright portion means and an outer sloping portion extending downwardly and outwardly of said roof structure from said upright portion means and overlapping and secured to said top chord, said web portion having portions connecting with the beam flange portions to produce a longitudinally extending continuous beam means imparting to said roof structure integral strength to resist horizontal and vertical loading on the roof structure, said roof sheet means having centrally disposed opening means, said longitudinally extending beam means being Z-shaped and said outer sloping portion forming the lower flange of said beam means and reaching to said top chord and said beam means having an inwardly extending portion forming the upper flange of the beam and reaching to said opening means, said upright vertical web portion and said laterally extending portion means combining to provide a sloping roof contour extending downwardly and outwardly of the opening means, said upright portion means of said beam means being shorter than said longitudinally and horizontally extending portion means.
 3. A railroad hopper vehicle comprising: a pair of transversely spaced and longitudinally extending side wall units, longitudinally spaced and transversely extending end walls extending between said side wall units, spaced partition walls extending transversely of said hopper vehicle and defining hopper means, a top chord angle plate member positioned atop each of said side wall units, a roof structure having roof sheet members longitudinally arranged and said sheet members having transversely extending end edge portions and having longitudinally extending spaced side edge portions overlapping said top chord member, said roof sheets having transversely spaced and longitudinally extending vertical stiffening portions extending continuously between said transversely extending end edge portions, said roof sheets having transversely spaced and longitudinally and laterally extending portions extending continuously between said transversely extending edges and connected to said vertical stiffening portion, said vertical stiffening portion forming a web and said laterally extending roof portions forming associated flange members thereby producing a Z-shaped longitudinally extending continuous bending beam means providing vertical and horizontal strength to said roof structure and combining with said top choRd to prevent bulging of the associated side wall unit.
 4. In a railway hopper car which is provided with hatch openings and adapted for transport of flowable material and including spaced side wall means and spaced end wall means, a roof structure comprising: roof sheet means longitudinally arranged on said hopper car and having adjacent edges fixedly attached together as by weld to form said roof structure, said roof sheet means including a top central portion, said roof sheet means including a continuous integrally formed and longitudinally extending substantially laterally extending intermediate portion means spaced from said central portion, a downwardly and outwardly sloping stiffening portion extending between and connecting the top central portion and the laterally extending intermediate portion means, said roof sheet means including integrally formed transversely spaced and longitudinally extending substantially upright stiffening portion means, said roof sheet means having a transverse edge portion attached to said side wall means, a downwardly and outwardly sloping roof section including said edge portion and extending between said upright stiffening portion means and the hopper car side wall means, said laterally extending intermediate portion means combining with the upright portion and the downwardly and outwardly sloping roof section to form a first beam member, said laterally extending intermediate portion means also combining with the downwardly and outwardly sloping stiffening portion and the roof central portion to form a second beam member, said first and second beam members strengthening said roof structure to restrict vertical deflection of such roof structure and to restrict horizontal bulging of said side wall means.
 5. The invention according to claim 4, and said side wall means including a top chord reinforcing member fixedly attached thereto and said top chord having a portion providing a mounting and attaching means for said roof structure. 